Thinking about a better UI

Peter William Lount peter at smalltalk.org
Thu Apr 15 01:51:38 UTC 1999


jecel at lsi.usp.br wrote:
> 
> I find it very ironic that none of the Windows users I know actually do
> use "windows". All their applications run in the "maximized" mode and
they
> switch between them using the buttons on the bar at the bottom of the
> screen.

Hey, I DON'T represent that remark! :-b

I use lots of windows. When browsing the net for instance I'll have 10 or
20 browsers open (until Windows9X crashes because it runs out of DOS
Compatible graphics memory which is only has 64K of ;--(. 

I love lots of windows.

I rarely maximize a window as doing this prevents me from switching or
seeing the progress of other windows...

Now the contrast. I work with someone who only works with Maximized windows
and can't handle it if I am using his computer and use lots of overlapping
windows switching back and forth. For him the button bar makes a lot of
sense. 

The button bar works for me as, but it is not so nice when I have lots of
apps each with lots of windows. In this case I can't find the window I want
easily! It also doesn't have an option to sort the buttons alphabetically
or by application... woops...

One big problem with Windows95 and the way the handle windows is that you
can't hide all the windows of an application with one key stroke or menu
command (unless the application only has one window open). OpenStep, now
MacOSX, allows all the windows of an application to be hidden very quickly
with one command. Very nice. This is where I developed my need for lots of
windows at once. It really speeds up ones use of the computer rather
dramatically.

All the best,

Peter W. Lount
peter at smalltalk.org
http://www.smalltalk.org - Come and visit. ;--)





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